The present invention relates to an improved ski and a process for manufacturing same, and more particularly relates to improvement in the sole board construction of a ski having patterns visible on the bottom and in the process for manufacturing sole boards of such an improved construction.
Lately, there are increasing number of skis on the market which have various patterns such as trademarks or decorations visible not only on the top but also on the bottom surface of a ski.
In the conventional construction of a ski of this type, a masking layer generally made of pigment is provided between the main body and a sole board of the ski in order to mask the relatively rough texture of the lower surface of the main body and presence of the sole edges. The sole board is in general made of transparent polyethylene resin and the above-described patterns are printed on the mating surface of the sole board with the masking layer.
With this construction, a relatively large thickness is required for the masking layer in order to obtain sufficient masking effect and such an increased thickness of the masking layer causes the ski to be heavy which makes the ski unsuited for transportation and inhibits easy maneuver of the ski. The presence of the thick masking layer tends to cause undesirable accidental separation of the sole board from the main body during skiing. Further, the relatively thick and relatively rigid construction of the sole board does not allow employment of economical photogravure printing for formation of the patterns thereon. For this reason, formation of the patterns needs to depend upon screen printing which is very disadvantageous in cost and efficiency when compared with photogravure printing. Further, formation of the masking layer is carried out by a wet process which is in general very disadvantageous in operational efficiency.